The Technology Park Ljubljana (Tehnološki park Ljubljana) a tech, startup and scaleup community that involves over 300 member companies, innovative teams, and individuals, is celebrating its 25th anniversary.
The project, whose first contours were drawn at the Jožef Stefan Institute (IJS) in 1994, has helped develop a number services that have consolidated Slovenia’s position on the map of technological innovation.
While more than 1,500 people are connected to its work, the centre itself employs 18 people and is a non-profit organisation.
Its biggest owner is the Ljubljana municipality, while other owners include the IJS, the Chemical Institute, the National Institute for Biology, as well as telecoms equipment maker Iskratel, electronics company Iskra and pharma company Lek.
The main fields of interest are automation, biotechnology, medicine, digital media, finance, industrial technology, information and communication technology, creative industries, the environment and energy, trade and life sciences.
Announcing the celebration plans, Technology Park Ljubljana director Jernej Pintar has told the STA the focus will not be on ceremonies but on presenting new services and products and highlighting the importance of technology for everyday life.
Pintar argued the global success of the companies involved was testimony to the good work of the Technology Park Ljubljana. He pointed to the potential harboured by cooperation, highlighting a recent effort to manufacture a ventilator as an example.
“We hadn’t produced them in Slovenia, we also did not know much about them, so we basically started from scratch,” he said, explaining a working prototype was developed to the surprise of everyone involved in only three weeks.
“This is an unbelievable demonstration of how erudite Slovenian engineers are what we can achieve when we join forces,” Pintar said.
Among future goals, he noted that development achievement also need to turn into business products. “In Slovenia this still happens too rarely. Those who did succeed have shown its possible.”
Pintar moreover announced a project involving mentorship for students by some of the world’s leading experts, as well as the launch of three co-working spaces in Ljubljana.